Planet 6 - The start of a new keyboard by kurplop

[tufty]

I *think*, from memory, that the aluminium brazing rods I had were a high zinc content alloy.  Can't remember the exact mix.  Did some tests, worked OK on a properly cleaned joint with a lot of surface area (think "sweated" pipe fitting type joins), but were bloody awful, no matter how good the prep work, on anything that took a peel or pull off load.  "Stronger than steel" my cock.

For glueing, I wouldn't worry too much about "keying", it's more about removing the natural oxidisation beforehand.  I believe most of the heavy duty aluminium bonding solutions (aerospace, etc) use some sort of super-exotic cyanoacrylate and some super-gnarly surface treatments, but you'd need micron tolerance and a lot of money for those, I'd think.  A "structural" epoxy should do the trick.  I've got away with the "wetting with epoxy" approach, otherwise surface prep is pretty much "stainless brush, acetone or MEK surface wash, rough, rewash, clean air dry, glue"


Hell, if your surfaces are flat you might even get away with some of 3M's tapes.  They're outstanding.  I did a 9m prototype power kite with almost only tape bonding once (obviously, this was on polyester rather than aluminium, brand name "icarex", it's pretty hard stuff to bond).  Only sewed the bridle attachment points, taped the rest.  Lasted 2 years of buggy racing on beaches - salt water, sand and sudden shocks - before it started to peel in one corner after being stowed wet by a "friend".

[Oobly]

If you practice, you can gas weld / braze aluminium nicely:

Small torch, good filler, plenty of flux, low flame velocity and away you go. It does the stress relief as you go (although it doesn't hurt to go over "cold areas" to try to keep the temperatures more consistent) so you don't get the tensions and warping you get with TIG. Also, way more zen.

This is something I so badly want to learn, along with gas welding Chromoly.

http://airbum.com/articles/ArticleZenWelding.html

But screws sound like less potential for disaster unless you have experience with gas welding (not knocking your skills in any way).

[tufty]

Never thought about gas welding alu, but it makes sense.  Carburising flame would be key, I suppose.  I love gas welding.  I'm rubbish at it, of course, but I love it.  I think you'd probably end up with a certain amount of stress and warping anyway, you (well, *I*) certainly do when gas welding stainless, but less than tig.

Nice zen link, that.  And the guy in the vid is pretty damn good.

[Zekromtor]

Awesome vid and link Oobly.

An oxy-acetylene torch isn't something you can pick up at your local hardware store, but it's definitely a technique that can be done in your garage, provided you have the skills and the tools.

[kurplop]

But screws sound like less potential for disaster unless you have experience with gas welding (not knocking your skills in any way).

I thought I was a pretty bad welder but then I loaned my mig to the kid next door.  He showed me his work a couple days later and now my welds seem to look a lot better.

[tufty]

I thought I was a pretty bad welder but then I loaned my mig to the kid next door.  He showed me his work a couple days later and now my welds seem to look a lot better.

You owe me a new keyboard.

[kurplop]

Oh no. You weren't eating SpaghettiOs when you read that, were you?

[kurplop]

Today is Thanksgiving. I thought I'd get in an early celebration by making some keycaps.

I spaced them so I could run a 1/4" endmill between them and then a finish pass on each side to clean them up.


I made the bevel passes and the radius cuts to finish roughing in the tops.


I'm hoping that I can cut in the stems on the underside ant the polish the top before I separate the individual caps. The are easier to handle and work consistently in combined units.

Happy Thanksgiving!

[Zekromtor]

Doesn't get any cooler than aluminum key caps, but if weight is ever an issue you can always use acrylic.

[njbair]

Today is Thanksgiving. I thought I'd get in an early celebration by making some keycaps.

I spaced them so I could run a 1/4" endmill between them and then a finish pass on each side to clean them up.

(Attachment Link)
I made the bevel passes and the radius cuts to finish roughing in the tops.
(Attachment Link)

I'm hoping that I can cut in the stems on the underside ant the polish the top before I separate the individual caps. The are easier to handle and work consistently in combined units.

Happy Thanksgiving!

There's that round piece of scrap from the ring keycaps again!

[Charger]

Today is Thanksgiving. I thought I'd get in an early celebration by making some keycaps.

I spaced them so I could run a 1/4" endmill between them and then a finish pass on each side to clean them up.

(Attachment Link)
I made the bevel passes and the radius cuts to finish roughing in the tops.
(Attachment Link)

I'm hoping that I can cut in the stems on the underside ant the polish the top before I separate the individual caps. The are easier to handle and work consistently in combined units.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I was just thinking how you were going to make them work with cherry switches then went to the first page and noticed you are using apls and thought to my self damn why didn't I think about using apls so it would be less work making keycaps lol

[kurplop]

There's that round piece of scrap from the ring keycaps again!

I think I'll try to work them into pictures like Hitchcock did cameos in his movies.  Or for you kids, like Where's Waldo?.

[kurplop]

I was just thinking how you were going to make them work with cherry switches then went to the first page and noticed you are using apls and thought to my self damn why didn't I think about using apls so it would be less work making keycaps lol

The Alps (Matias) switch stems  are much easier to mill than the cross stems. You know me, if there's an easier, quicker way of doing something, I'll do it. )

[kurplop]

Doesn't get any cooler than aluminum key caps, but if weight is ever an issue you can always use acrylic.

I am a little concerned about them being too cool to the touch. Any thoughts?

[Zekromtor]

No clue about that. I've never actually tried aluminum for key caps.

I know from having an anodized aluminum mousepad, however, that there were issues that arose from condensation. It may have only had to do with the constant contact of a butt shaped piece of flesh (bottom of the palm of the hand) that trapped enough warm air to cause a problem with the cold aluminum, but moisture gathered there, forcing me to have to wear a wristband when I used that mousepad. Depending on if you rest your fingers on the keys or not, that could be an issue. Do you not have any issues with your smaller aluminum keyboard? I forget if you hover or rest your palms.

[kurplop]

I use the rest more for orientation than resting, so I come in contact with it but just barely. No handstands on it. I have decided to cerakote the caps to avoid the blackening possibility although I think the anodize would resist it pretty well.

If the cold hard feel of the caps don't feel right I can always make a mold out of one and resin cast them.

[njbair]

I use the rest more for orientation than resting, so I come in contact with it but just barely. No handstands on it. I have decided to cerakote the caps to avoid the blackening possibility although I think the anodize would resist it pretty well.

If the cold hard feel of the caps don't feel right I can always make a mold out of one and resin cast them.

If the iPod is any indication, anodized aluminum can stand up to a good deal of manhandling.

I never thought about the cold. You could always pop in a socket for a 7w low-voltage halogen landscape bulb or something, just to take the edge off.

Heated, custom ergo keyboards. That definitely sounds like a solution in search of a first-world problem.

[tufty]

I am a little concerned about them being too cool to the touch. Any thoughts?

Inductive heating.  Charge your phone and burn your fingers at the same time.

[njbair]

Or get one of those mug warmers and integrate it somehow.

[CPTBadAss]

A-a-a aluminum alps-mount keycaps? I LOVE YOU KURPLOP

[tufty]

Any chance of an update for Christmas?

Please, Santa.

[kurplop]

Any chance of an update for Christmas?

Please, Santa.

Have you been a good little boy?

I've been pretty busy scrambling around with work and some family health issues and haven't had much time to progress on the keyboard but I did get a few things done.

I ended up not using the aluminum keycaps I displayed earlier because by profiling the tops first it became a challenge to accurately set up for the pockets and stems on the underside. I figured it would be better in the long run to start over on them.

Here's some pictures fresh off the mill.

Top view


One from the bottom


And one from the side


I need 48 and I cut 65. I wanted to allow for some mistakes. I messed up on 4 or 5 on the underside but so far the tops came out right. I'll do some preliminary sanding and polishing before I separate them. The aluminum I left to connect them is pretty thin so I should be able to easily cut them apart and grind smooth.

Thanks tufty for asking about this. I was beginning to wonder if Planet 6 had been long forgotten.

[Melvang]

Any chance of an update for Christmas?

Please, Santa.

Thanks tufty for asking about this. I was beginning to wonder if Planet 6 had been long forgotten.

Missing for a little while but never forgotten.

[kurplop]

I uploaded some pictures.https://flic.kr/s/aHsknRKXxo  Most have already been posted in this thread but they are all together here.

[harlw]

Somehow I have missed this thread entirely, subd.
Love your builds, can't wait to see this one finished.

[iamtootallforthis]

Wow! I really want to see this all together! It is gonna look ridiculous!

[tufty]

Have you been a good little boy?

Of course not.  Why on earth did you feel the need to ask?

I was beginning to wonder if Planet 6 had been long forgotten.

Stuff like this is too cool to be forgotten. Hope the family health stuff gets better.

[kurplop]

Thanks everyone. I'm hoping to have some time soon to finish it up.

Hope the family health stuff gets better.

Thanks. My wife and I were t-boned by a person running a red light 4 months ago. 22 thousand dollars damage to the car. I wasn't hurt but my wife got whiplash by the side airbag deployment and has been to Physical Therapy, has been on pain killers and has had several epidurals to try to relieve the pain. If you have the option, try to avoid traffic accidents.

[S1llyC0ne]

Oh man.... I wish everything will be ok for you both from now on 👍

[kurplop]

Thanks S1llyCOne. Is that pronounced like the chip or like the sealant?

The doctor told me to sand keycaps as physical therapy, so here they are.




I still have a little more sanding 'therapy' to do but they are feeling really nice. After that I'll sandblast them.

Questions about legends

If I have the legends laser engraved on them, would it be best to keep them attached?

If I anodize the caps after laser engraving, will the engraving show through?

If I anodize before engraving, will the laser burn or discolor the dyed anodize?

What other questions should I ask?

[S1llyC0ne]

It refers to the chip with a hint of wordplay in it 😄

[kurplop]

Well I thought it was clever.

[Zekromtor]

Getting T-boned hurts, even at low velocity. Hope your wife recovers fully in time.

Those sanded caps look great. I'm eager to see it all come together. Key legends are for people who can't type, save yourself the trouble

[S1llyC0ne]

Thank you, kurplop 😁

[kurplop]

Those sanded caps look great. I'm eager to see it all come together. Key legends are for people who can't type, save yourself the trouble

Good point. I have considered not having them but part of the showman in me wants others to not be freaked out by their absence. I definitely will not have legends on the key ring. I want the flexibility to rearrange key assignments there.

Something I'm working through now is deciding whether I should have special shapes on some of the caps. For example, the inside columns that my index finger traverses to may benefit with a shorter side. The same with the zero 1, Q, and P, which I break form and use my ring fingers on.

I chose not to arc the columns for 2 reasons. First, I don't think it's necessary given the 5 row maximum and the shortened vertical spacing between keys keeps the keys close enough to reach comfortably without stretching . And second, I realized when designing my ErgoPlop, the staggered columns create a bit of a problem if the rows differ much in height because some keys are half way between adjacent columns and both the look and feel can seem awkward if there is much of a height difference.

[jdcarpe]

kurplop, really nice work on everything so far. I really love those aluminum keycaps you milled. If you want legends on them, I can do the engraving for you. You will definitely want to have them anodized first, before engraving. With the laser, the engraving process basically burns the top layer of aluminum, and leaves the legend. But it isn't engraved to any depth at all, really. It shouldn't wear off with normal use, though. On a bright surface, such as gold anodization, the laser will burn the legends a dark, almost black color. On a colorful or dark anodized surface, such as blue, red, or black, the laser will burn the legends white. Laser engraving on colorless anodized aluminum is not recommended, as the legends are very light, with little contrast.

[Zekromtor]

I think different shaped keycaps for different fingers/rows/columns is highly underutilized. Anything that can give you more feedback about where your fingers are is a benefit to typing confidence. It may not matter so much on a relatively compact board like yours, but one like mine with 6 rows can sometimes require a pause or type test to make sure I'm on the right row. A lot of people make great use of just a different home row set, but I think some boards could go beyond that.

[tufty]

Any updates on this, Kurplop?

I need a fix of machining porn

[kurplop]

Any updates on this, Kurplop?

I need a fix of machining porn

I wish that I could say yes. Unfortunately, I had to put the project on the shelf until I could find a block of time to finish it.

Lots of changes in the Kurplop household this year. My 88 year old mother is moving in with me and my wife soon, so I've had to do some remodeling to the house. Part of it involved moving my office into a room upstairs so she'd have a living room, bedroom and bath on the first floor for herself. I'll be flying to Pennsylvania in May to relocate her and her stuff out here. Too many things going on to indulge myself right now so I had to "forget" about Planet 6 until I get these priorities out of the way.

One positive thing is I that my new office is a little bigger than the old one. Room for a small craft corner as well as a bigger desk and bookshelves. I was able to reuse and reconfigure most of the cabinetry from the old office but had to make a new desk. I also salvaged a stainless steel countertop from a commercial kitchen and bent it around some plywood for the workbench top.

The keyboard building garage is still in progress. Note the drawer fronts missing and unpainted wood.


The Stainless steel top can be slid out to 30" deep from 13".


And this is the new desktop


Right now it looks like I will be back to the Planet 6 project around the middle of July. I must say that I've missed interacting with you and the others that have shown interest in and have offered a lot of helpful advice on this project.

[suicidal_orange]

Not sure which is more impressive between your keyboards and house mods - that huge slide out workbench

[kurplop]

Not sure which is more impressive between your keyboards and house mods - that huge slide out workbench

In the real world, people don't seem to understand why I make keyboards. What they do understand is a nicely executed room addition or an elegant new kitchen.

Thanks for the comment. It's good to hear from you.

[S1llyC0ne]

I don't to repeat what suicidal_orange said so I will leave to this : wow !

Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk

[tufty]

Unfortunately, I had to put the project on the shelf until I could find a block of time to finish it.

Priorities, priorities.  I understand entirely.  Hope it doesn't put too much stress on your own family life.

The workbench is lovely, by the way. Shows the same attention to detail and clever implementation as everything else you've shown here.  It's a simple idea, but far from obvious.

[kurplop]

Thanks guys. I hope that you will be around long enough to see the finished product someday.

Unlike smaller projects, Planet 6's complexities requires that I be in the mood and have a big block of time, maybe 2 weeks, to devote to it rather than just an hour every so often. It will probably take a day of "now where was I" to get reoriented.

My wife and I are actually looking forward to being able to take care of my mother. It is nice to be able to give back a little to someone who sacrificed so much for me. I just hope I feel this way in a few months.

[Zekromtor]

I just hope I feel this way in a few months.

People projects make custom keyboards look easy - well, at least the flat ones Best of luck with both.

[kurplop]

I just hope I feel this way in a few months.

People projects make custom keyboards look easy - well, at least the flat ones Best of luck with both.

Ain't that the truth. Not only that but you can't just stick people in the back of a drawer if you get tired of them or don't know what to do next. In spite of that, people always come first. I try my best to remember that, even when it interferes with my all important plans.

In keyboard news, I have actually made a little progress on Planet 6. I hesitate to say it though because I took a step back and rejected the aluminum caps I made. I wasn't happy with the profile because the shape was a bit broad at the top and because of the closer vertical spacing, it was less than ideal for striking a cap without touching the one below it. I could get use to it but why should I if I can improve on the profile. I've been experimenting with different cap profiles to try to get it right. The challenge is fitting everything into the Matias switch profile, give the 0.65" vertical pitch, and also having a profile that is easy to replicate 48 times with a manual mill.

I'd probably be in a bigger hurry if I didn't really like using the Alumaplop. Contentment is sometimes the enemy of progress.

[kurplop]

Not the best day in the shop. I had an incident that may make me rethink the Planet 6's layout.



I took a picture of my hand but it is probably too gruesome for the general public.

[iamtootallforthis]

Not the best day in the shop. I had an incident that may make me rethink the Planet 6's layout.

(Attachment Link)

I took a picture of my hand but it is probably too gruesome for the general public.

What in the hell?

How did that happen? I want to see the picture though.

[kurplop]

Jointer accident.

I will keep this up for 2 days for the curious but, honestly, don't look if you have a weak stomach.  https://www.flickr.com/gp/kurplop/tq2A5C

It's the last picture in the album.

[njbair]

Not the best day in the shop. I had an incident that may make me rethink the Planet 6's layout.

(Attachment Link)

I took a picture of my hand but it is probably too gruesome for the general public.

Wow, sorry, man. I lost the tip of my right index finger in high school machine shop class. My fingernail still grows in kind of funny. Fortunately I didn't hit the bone.

My dad, though, when I was younger, lost his left pinky down to the first knuckle. He was using a wood jointer, so there was no getting that one back.

And for the record, thanks for not sharing the pic. I for one don't think I could handle it.